Speaking of understanding each other, Oliver and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) were able to work through their marital issues by the end of the episode too. The last time we checked in with Olicity, they’d reached an impasse because Oliver wasn’t okay with how much Felicity had changed while he was away; however, the body swap helped Oliver understand that no matter how much they change, their love will remain the same. But will this resolution last beyond the crossover?

“Yes, they’re made up. They’re in a good place now,” confirmed Schwartz, before explaining how she had to fit Oliver and Felicity’s relationship story into the crossover madness. “Since [Arrow consulting producer Marc Guggenheim] wrote [episode 9] and I wrote [episode 8] and knew what the arc was, we just kind of worked together to make sure that it all came together as a piece,” said Schwartz. ” I think it worked out kind of perfectly because as, well, she’ll say, I guess not until the episode after that, but just the fact that he became a different person literally in the crossover and she’s become a different person, he was able to understand her journey, which made for a perfect time to realize that he might have been overreacting in episode 8, and it was a nice resolution as well.”

With things being fairly tense going into this year’s Elseworlds crossover, and continuing with Iris laying down some truth bombs with what Felicity has been going through in Part 1 followed by initially keeping the switch from Felicity in Part 2, things weren’t going too well for the “Olicity” ship. But, in the end, the whole switch thing brought a new perspective, and last week, Executive Producer Beth Schwartz confirmed that “Olicity” — the relationship between Oliver and Felicity — is back to “good” status.

“Yes. They are made up now. They’re in a good place,” Beth said.

“Just the fact that he became a different person, literally, in the crossover, and she has become a different person, he was able to understand her journey, which made for a perfect time for him to realize that he might have been overreacting in Episode 8, and it was a nice resolution,” she added, referring to the events of Part 2 of the crossover.

‘OLICITY’ EVER AFTER | Initially, Oliver decides to keep Felicity in the dark about the body swap because he thinks they already have enough marital problems. So naturally, when Felicity learns the truth, she’s upset that Oliver didn’t trust and respect her. Caitlin pushes her not to give up on love, while Barry urges Oliver not to wait too long to work things out. Thankfully, Oliver takes his advice and tells Felicity that it’s OK that they’re changing because it means they’re growing and evolving as people. But one thing will not change: “You’ll always be the love of my life,” he says before the couple kisses. And in case that smooch wasn’t reassuring enough: “Yes, they are made up now. They’re in a good place,” Schwartz confirmed. Through the process of becoming “a different person, literally, in the crossover,” Oliver “was able to understand [Felicity’s] journey, which made for a perfect time for him to realize that he might have been overreacting in Episode 8, and it was a nice resolution, as well.”

The whole situation actually ended up helping Oliver and Felicity, who reconciled by the end of the episode.

"You will always be the love of my life," Oliver told her. "People change. That never will."

"They are made up now. They're in a good place," Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz confirmed after a screening of the first two parts of the crossover.

Schwartz said that the crossover came up at the perfect time in that storyline, because Oliver and Felicity's problems had to do with them being different people after he got out of prison, and now Oliver's had to become literally a different person.

"He was able to understand her journey, which made for a perfect time for him to realize that he might have been overreacting in episode eight, and it was a nice resolution."

Schwartz teased that they discuss it a little more in future episodes, but you can all rest easy, because Oliver and Felicity are doing OK, assuming they get out of whatever's happening tomorrow.

At a press screening of the "Elseworlds" crossover, Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz played coy about whether or not John will be trying on any rings in the near future, saying only, "To be continued. We were all really excited about that fun nod, but I'm not sure what's to come of that really."

Scene 2:
RO: "Where's Mr. Midas?"
Reader (off-screen): "He wasn't able to make it. But he sends his regards. I trust you were happy with your sample?"
RO: "Very. We'll take as many of those bullets as you have to sell."

HR: So, what is next for you? Will we be seeing you appear in a new project soon?MJ: I’m supposed to keep everything a little hush-hush right now. Hopefully, we’ll see more of the Longbow Hunters in the latter half of this season’s Arrow and let’s all start using the hashtag #RenewVanHelsing on Twitter to make sure SYFY knows that this is what the people want!

OLIVER RETURNS TO HIS REGULAR LIFE IN STAR CITY — Oliver (Stephen Amell) is ready to get back to work with the SCPD and to focus on his marriage with Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards). However, when Dinah (Juliana Harkavy) tasks Oliver with tracking the new Green Arrow (Sea Shimooka) things take a surprising turn. Meanwhile, Diggle (David Ramsey) and Lyla (guest star Audrey Marie Anderson) must answer to ARGUS about Diaz (Kirk Acevedo). Andi Armaganian directed the episode written by Benjamin Raab & Deric A. Hughes (#710). Original airdate 1/21/2019.

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-- When asked what fans can expect with her Maya character on Arrow, KM: "Well, there's a lot of speculation, um, and the hardest part about being a part of Arrow so far has been all the secrets, 'cause I have many that I'm not allowed to share and I'm dying to. But I'm very good about keeping secrets, so they have nothing to worry about. My employers, don't sweat... It's a very exciting character because there is so much to mine out of her. And she is someone - unlike Clary, my character on Shadowhunters... Clary is someone who was wide-eyed, thrown into this world, having to figure it out. My character here has grown up in this world. She's a product of that harsh, brutal environment. And she's very much one that will punch first and ask questions later. And one who is not to be underestimated. And someone who has a lot of issues of her own to work through. Um, but she's a - she's a very interesting person. And it's great to be a part of now this future storyline team, which is an amalgamation of new characters, new characters that have grown up, and an amalgamation of some of the old characters too. You know, I just got to work with Colton Haynes for the first time, who I know is a fan favorite - and a personal favorite. He's a fantastic human being, who I'm so excited I got to spend time with. It's been a - and Juliana as well, who is just fantastic. It's nice to be welcomed into a show in such a warm way, uh, given that they're in their seventh season. They're very well-established."

-- When asked how old her character Maya is, compared to the other characters in the Arrow flashforwards, KM: "So I've been told that I'm - I think, between - they haven't told me an exact age. I know I'm between 19 and like 23, I think. So I don't know where exactly I fall. But I know I'm playing my age now, which is awesome. (Laughs) Someone who's been playing 18 for the last four years, it's really awesome to play my own age."

-- KM: "And with Arrow, it's, oh, now, I'm playing an actual badass who's really quite, um, a hard core human being in every sense of the word. Um, which is - you know, I'm a very bubbly, bright person and she is not. So, you know, you have to find that part of yourself."

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Hamish Allan-Headley: "Becoming part of the SCPD is a great responsibility. The city will be watching you, holding you to the highest possible standard. Now that you're working with us, you should know how we do things here. We have rules, protocol. Abiding by them is critical. Use of excessive force will not be tolerated. Your objective is to defuse the situation, not escalate it. Firearms should only be used as a last resort. Do not discharge your firearm unless you're being fired upon or your life is in danger. All evidence against the suspect must be obtained within the parameters of the law. Evidence that is not obtained in this manner will be deemed inadmissible. In tactical situations, avoid suspect-based decisions. This leads to chaos and confusion. And above all, follow the orders of the commanding officer on the site. Wearing the uniform of an SCPD officer is a great honor. It isn't just a uniform. It's a symbol. Of law. Of justice. Of transparency. You're now all part of that."

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-- When asked for a tease for Arrow, KM: "What can I say? It's so hard to answer this question without spoiling anything. I'm in an episode coming up soon."

-- When asked if she missed her Clary hair, KM: "Sometimes I do, you know that? It's strange to me not being a ginger now. Sometimes I'll look in the mirror, I'll look at old photos and go, 'I don't understand...' - It's something - something feels off sometimes. And sometimes this hair color in particular is probably the closest to my mother's hair color I've ever been. And I've always so associated this particular shade of blonde with her that sometimes I'll catch it in the mirror and it makes me jump - not in a bad way, but just in the way of, I'm not used to seeing that on me. Um, but I think it works really well for Arrow... I always love doing different hair colors. I'd never do it on my own, but when a job makes me change my hair, I always find it really exciting, 'cause it's an opportunity to be that chameleon, you know? And to become someone else." Also, KM: "My hair's naturally the definition of strawberry blonde. Um, I'm right smack dab in the middle of the two, so, uh, it makes it kind of fun to be every shade in between."

-- KM: "I haven't worked with Stephen yet. But I have met him and he's been so kind and so welcoming and so wonderful. I have nothing but lovely things to say. I actually - I hope I get to work with him. At some point. We'll see. I don't even have the answer to that question."

Arrow‘s aptly titled winter premiere “My Name is Emiko Queen” (Jan. 21 at 8 p.m.) won’t waste any time digging into the fall finale’s big revelation: The new Green Arrow is Emiko Queen (Sea Shimooka), Robert Queen’s daughter and thus Oliver Queen’s (Stephen Amell) half-sister. As the title suggests, the midseason return will be partially told from Emiko’s POV and start to answer many burning questions, including the other half of her parentage.

“We’re gonna really be seeing a lot from her perspective. We have a really cool, fun opening where we learn about her mission [and] why she’s taken up the Green Arrow suit,” showrunner/executive producer Beth Schwartz tells EW. “We’ll explain in this episode who her parents are.”
* * *
“The intention wasn’t to replace Thea, or once one sister left to introduce a new sister. We were just excited about this character from the comic books, and we just felt like it was time to bring her into the fold,” says Schwartz. ” [The fact that] Queen secrets are still happening from the grave, I thought, was really interesting, and that there was a whole hidden life that Oliver that didn’t know about.”

So what can we expect from her personality-wise? “She is very similar to Oliver, which is fun and different, obviously, from Thea as well, who had her own sort of thing going. But we kind of love making those parallels of her to Oliver,” says Schwartz.

Furthermore, the audience can expect Emiko’s partnership with Rene (Rick Gonzalez) to continue, too. “He’s kind of been her number one supporter even from the beginning, even when he didn’t know who she was. He just always believed in the mission and he’s the one that’s been pushing from the beginning that vigilantes are important. They find out they have a lot in common, and so he’s fully onboard to support her,” she says.
* * *
In addition to focusing on Emiko Queen, the midseason premiere will also pick up with Diggle (David Ramsey) and Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) turning the newly captured Ricardo Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) for help with their current A.R.G.U.S. case. This ultimately leads to the creation of a new Suicide Squad called the Ghost Initiative, which includes China White (Kelly Hu), Slade’s son Kane Wolfman (Liam Hall) and Carrie Cutter (Amy Gumenick) and will be introduced in the following episode.

“It’s just a really fun way to use Diaz in a way that we haven’t seen before. Basically, the reason that they recruited him is that it’s the former Suicide Squad, but there’s a new name for it called the Ghost Initiative,” says Schwartz. “I’ve always loved the Suicide Squad, and we’ve always loved the characters. Because we told the first half of the season being in prison with a lot of our former villains, that’s kind of the fun of the Suicide Squad — having our former villains working with our heroes, and it’s always fun to do an episode or two every season about it. But having Diaz join the Suicide Squad, I mean, that’s priceless.”

Finally, “My Name is Emiko Queen” will also feature another flash-forwards that will show us a new part of future Star City: the Glades, which is nothing like the rundown city we’ve been spending time in. “We’re kind of opening up our world a little because we’ve only our characters in the future Star City, [which] has looked a little glum,” says Schwartz. “[The Glades] is much nicer than Star City, and we’ll get deeper into Rene and Zoey’s relationship and kind of how that dynamic has changed from the present day to the future.”

-- KM: "What's great about Arrow is that, you know, this season - with Beth now as the showrunner and James Bamford and all these amazing people who are and have been taking care of the show for so many years - there's a new life to it this season. 'Cause now we have these flashforwards, which we're seeing the product of all of these actions 20 years in the future. And seeing the devolvement of this world all resulting of this - this thing that happened, that I truly don't even know what the 'thing' was, because they won't tell me, because it's so under wraps... Honestly, the hardest part about being a part of Arrow has been keeping all of the secrets... They tell me some [secrets] and I don't know all of them. I'm very good at keeping them. But it's very exciting. And there's a lot to mine out of this character, and the way she grew up, and the way in which she has been a part of this world is very unique."

ARROW FILMS THEIR 150TH EPISODE AS A DOCUMENTARY ENTITLED “THE HOOD AND THE RISE OF VIGILANTES” NARRATED BY KELSEY GRAMMER — The 150th episode of “Arrow” showcases a documentary entitled “The Hood and the rise of vigilantism” starring Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), Felicity Smoak (Emily Bett Rickards), and the rest of Team Arrow. As a camera crew follows Oliver and team around to talk about their past as vigilantes and what the Green Arrow means to Star City, Oliver must also deal with William’s (guest star Jack Moore) return from boarding school as well as a new threat to the city. The episode will feature “documentary footage” captured by the BTS crew and interviews from those who have worked alongside the Green Arrow. The documentary is narrated by Kelsey Grammer. Glen Winter directed the episode written by Marc Guggenheim & Emilio Ortega Aldrich (#712). Original airdate 2/4/2019.

Transitioning from that, McNamara is joining the cast of Arrow, as a recurring character named Maya. Similar to Clary, her character in this show is a strong and fierce female. McNamara reveals, “Maya is a fighter in form and in function. It’s her job and also who she is as a human being. She has grown up in this world and is not to be messed with. She has grown to be just as tough or tougher than her environment, and it’s served her well up until this point. I think it’s so smart and it’s not only reinventing the show, but also going back to its roots. It’s this dichotomy that somehow creates a fresh start with so much of the heart of the show that we love in Arrow.”

As Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz revealed as part of TVLine’s in-depth midseason preview Q&A, “We are doing a Birds of Prey-inspired episode, that Laurel (played by Katie Cassidy) will be involved with.”
* * *
In addition to the above — as well as an episode that will shed light on this Laurel’s Earth-Two backstory — Schwartz said, “We’ll get to see what happens in her overall redemption arc — whether she really did turn over a new leaf, or is she still the same evil Black Siren we met last season.”

When are we going to find out about Emiko's backstory and how she ended up in Star City?
Beth Schwartz: We're going to find all of those answers out on Monday [Jan. 21] in Episode 10. The episode basically can be told from her perspective, and we're going to find out what her mission is, why she put on the suit, and basically everything that she's been up to so far.

Will we find out how Robert Queen (James Sheridan) fits into her life story?Schwartz: Yeah, so we're going to find out what Robert did. Oliver's going to find out as well in this episode. And he's gonna obviously have a strong reaction to finding out he has a half-sister, another secret that his father kept, and Felicity will be there to support him in this journey.

I feel like at this point Oliver should not be surprised by any of his crazy family drama.Schwartz: I agree [laughs]. But at the same time, it's like how much crazier can things get? And then they just keep getting crazier.

Can you speak to the dynamic between Oliver and Emiko? Is it combative or is there some understanding there?Schwartz: It's definitely not understanding from Emiko's side, because she was abandoned by the Queen family, and Oliver's going to take it on himself to — as he does, as our hero that we love — to redeem what his father did, and want to have a relationship with her.

Now that he's officially affiliated with the police, how does that change the way Oliver operates as the Green Arrow?Schwartz: Well, there's definitely going to be conflict there because he is not used to following rules, especially rules of the law. And so there will be conflict between how the SCPD does stuff and... growing pains of how the two differ. How he fights crime or the SCPD does.

It seems like a lot of what Oliver does could possibly be qualified as police brutality.
Schwartz: Yeah, that is definitely true, but it gets the job done, which is his point.

Oliver and Felicity went through a little bit of a rough patch in their relationship earlier this season. How are they doing when we pick back up with them?Schwartz: They're definitely on track. They're back to, in a sense, being normal between each other. There's no friction between the relationship. They have a lot of obstacles in their way, but they'll be a team. It won't separate them. ... They'll be a force to reckon with.

Are Oliver and Felicity going to have to go through a readjustment period when William comes back?Schwartz: Yeah. When he comes back ... he will explain a little bit. In the future we see him, [and] he feels like Oliver and Felicity abandoned him. We'll explain some of that in our present day story and just see how he's been affected by everything, not just this season. Most recently this season, but as well as just everything that happened to him as soon as he knew that Oliver was his father. He's definitely had a rough couple of years, so it will start affecting him, and we'll see that in the present day story.
* * *Laurel's redemption storyline this year has been a nice journey for her. What can we expect from her in the back half of the season?Schwartz: We're actually in Episode 11, which is David Ramsey's directorial debut. [It's] a fantastic episode, and he did such an amazing job. We're going to see some of Laurel's backstory from Earth 2. That will answer how she became Black Siren and the way she is. And we'll, in the back half of the season, get to the conclusion of is she redeemable? Is there redemption for her as Black Siren, or is she evil and there's no redemption for her?

Will we get to see more of that fun dynamic between her and Felicity?Schwartz: Yes. I love the dynamic between the two of them as well. And I know the actresses love being in scenes together, and they've had a really good time this season doing that. Building their relationship, there's going to be a little bit of conflict there that they'll get into because, obviously, it's complicated when you're friends with someone who used to be a former villain.

How much are we going to learn about Blackstar and how much skin she has in the game in this future storyline?Schwartz: We are going to learn a lot about her in the next couple episodes. And specifically, we're doing an all flash-forward episode in Episode 16. So we will be answering a lot of the questions that we have been posing in the first half of the season. So people will get a lot more information about all of our characters, their backstory, a little more information of what really went on these past 20 years and why we found ourselves in this kind of Star City.

Felicity's death in the future has obviously been hanging over our heads for a while. How much are we going to learn about that puzzle and when is it going to start coming together?Schwartz: We're going to learn a lot about it in the next couple of episodes, but definitely [Episode] 16 is going to be the answer to that mystery and what's been going on in the Glades. In [Episode] 10, actually, we see the Glades for the first time and we meet Rene (Rick Gonzalez) in the future, which is exciting. We get to see, as terrible as Star City is, the Glades is a booming city, and that's the happy place of the future. And Rene has a lot to do with that. So we'll see that in 10 and then, yeah, the next couple episodes will start answering a lot of these questions.

Should we hold out any hope that Felicity's death just may be like a Roy Harper situation where everyone thinks she's dead, but she's actually alive?
Shwartz: Well, I definitely can't say yes or no to that, but there's definitely a lot more to that mystery that will unravel in the next few episodes, especially in 16.

What was it like shooting the 150th episode as a kind of Green Arrow documentary?Schwartz: Everyone loved it. Honestly, it was such a great experience for everyone all around — the actors, for the writers. Glenn Winter did a phenomenal job. It's way exceeded any expectations when I saw that first cut, and it was really fun. I like to call it, when I first saw some of that footage, it was like Arrow meets The Office because it's got some of that fun of our characters being like, "What is going on?" Looking at the camera, which I love.

When Arrow returns on Monday, it will take viewers back to the future in a series of new flash-forwards. According to showrunner Beth Schwartz, these flash-forwards will be packed with new characters and reveals, like the Glades' new status quo. What's more, the back half of Season 7 will feature an episode that takes place entirely in the flash-forward timeline, which she promises will answer a lot of fans' lingering questions.

"Well, we're still going to meet a character in the future," she revealed in an interview with CBR. "That's going to happen at the end of [episode] 12, which will be hopefully very exciting for a lot of people, and then we're going to have an all-future episode -- episode 16 -- where we're going to answer a lot of the questions that we've posed in the first half of the season."
* * *
She also offered a glimpse of Rene "Wild Dog" Ramirez's life in the flash-forward storyline. "We're going to see him in [episode] 10, and he's living the good life in the Glades. We'll get to see how the Glades are completely different from Star City," she explained. "It's full of wealth. It's clean. There's no crime. And Rene has a big part of why the Glades is like that, so we'll get to that as well as his dynamic with his daughter Zoe, who has been helping Dinah fight crime in Star City secretly."

According to Schwartz, Katherine McNamara's Maya will make a comeback in future episodes. "Yes! We love her. She is amazing, and we're gonna get to know a lot more about her and sort of how she became involved in this group in the next couple episodes," Schwartz teased.

-- On whether she's going back to film Arrow again, KM: "Yes! ... I get to play this character who's - her name is Blackstar. She's a boxer. And it's a lot of fun because I get to continue the skills that I learned on Shadowhunters and all of the things that I learned as I - you know, learned how to fight and box and all of these things. But it's a completely different character in the sense that, Clary was this wide-eyed girl who got thrown into this world, who didn't really know what she was doing and had to learn as she went, whereas this character is a product of a world of that nature, a very harsh, brutal world, and she's one who will punch first and ask questions later. She's not one that I'd want to meet in a dark alley, that's for sure."

-- On what it's like working with the Arrow cast, KM: "It's been so lovely, just - even with the crew and everyone involved in the show... Everyone's been so welcoming. And it's another set, very akin to Shadowhunters, in that everyone is genuinely happy to be there, everybody loves working with each other and loves their job. And being the new kid on a set like that, it's, um - it makes it a lot less nerve-wracking. And being so collaborative and having people be excited about your character, it makes it a lot of fun."

TVLINE | Get me excited about “Oliver Queen, SCPD-sanctioned fighter of crime.”
Having our entire series based off the vigilantes not being in partnership with the SCPD, we found it super-exciting in the writers room to make this happen. But it’s not going to be without conflict. And the rest of the team is going to have to find their way as well, to figure out how this is all going to work.

TVLINE | And what will determine whether he suits up versus rocks a V-neck and blazer?
He will suit up with the police — but he will also wear a V-neck and blazer. [Laughs] He will do both.

TVLINE | Will Oliver get to deal with any Villains of the Week, or will be be frying bigger fish?
A combination. Definitely some Villains of the Week.

TVLINE | The “Elseworlds” crossover seemed to do some damage control with regards to Oliver and Felicity. Would you say they’re back to 100 percent? 90 percent? 80…?
I would say 100 percent.

TVLINE | But will we still see Felicity on edge, getting darker?
She definitely has a lot going on in the second half — specifically figuring out what she’s going to do now that Oliver’s back, and how she’s going to fit into his new role working for the SCPD, while also doing her own thing. She’s going to start getting back to creating tech and doing things to help the world.

TVLINE | Because there is a dilapidated Smoak Tech in the future….
Yes, yes. We’re going to see the origin story of that.

TVLINE | I find it a little convenient that the half-sister Oliver doesn’t know he has is a trained vigilante, just like him — if only because he was only outed a few months ago. Will that make more sense once we get into her backstory?
It will. We’re going to find out a lot more about her in [Monday’s Episode] 10 — where she came from, who her mother is, why Robert [Queen] kept her a secret, what her mission is…. We’ll keep unraveling that as the season goes on.

TVLINE | Are you able to do that without Jamey Sheridan, or will he come back for flashbacks as Robert?
Well… we have him coming back, but not necessarily on-camera. There will be a fun surprise with him in 10.

TVLINE | I have to say, you’ve got me puzzling over the flash-forwards; I even wrote a whole think piece about them. Is this the future or a future?
This is a future as we know it, but we haven’t even scratched the surface of it yet. We’re going to be revealing what’s behind the wall at The Glades, and in 10 we’re going to see out first glimpse of how the other, better half are living. We’re actually going to have an all-future episode, [Episode] 16, which will answer all the questions, including the backstory of Blackstar (Shadowhunters‘ Katherine McNamara), how she came to be in this group…. There are more surprises ahead as we fill in the blanks about what has been going on. That episode is titled “Star City 2040.”

TVLINE | Speaking of Blackstar, should we read anything into the fact that Roy wasn’t present when we first met her? I was wondering if it’s because he would recognize her.
Oh, no — he doesn’t know her.

TVLINE | Really?
Yep. He doesn’t. [But speaking of Roy] we’re definitely going to answer why we found him banished on Lian Yu. We’ll get to know more about that.

TVLINE | The “Ghost Initiative” that Diggle and Lyla put together in Episode 11 (airing Jan. 28), comprised of Diaz, China White (played by Kelly Hu), Cupid (Amy Gumenick) and Slade’s son (Liam Hall) — is this your workaround to not being able to use the Suicide Squad?
It’s a new group but with the same kind of M.O. as the Suicide Squad. Diaz is going to be our leader of that, which is really fun. We’re going to get to see a lot of that in 11, which is [cast member] David Ramsey’s directorial debut. He did such an amazing job; I just had the mix this week and it’s so much fun seeing China White back, and Cupid and Kane Wolfman, with Diaz leading the charge. It’s a really, really cool episode.

TVLINE | Is whatever Diggle and Lyla are up to with the Dante painting going to dovetail with the bigger picture?
It will, yep. It will all come to a head. You’ll see, we’ve been playing the long game with that one.

TVLINE | The synopsis for 11 also says, “Oliver and Laurel are haunted by the past.” What more can you say about that?
We are going to find out more about Laurel’s backstory on Earth-Two, which is really cool. And Oliver is sort of going to be haunted by the consequences of him being outed. The episode looks at the consequences of him being unmasked and everyone knowing who he is.

TVLINE | What else is coming up for Laurel in the second half of the season?
Well, we are doing a Birds of Prey-inspired episode, that she will be involved with. And we’ll get to see what happens in her overall arc, in her redemption story — whether she is really redeemed as Black Siren and did she really turn over a new leaf, or is she still the same evil Black Siren that we saw last season.

TVLINE | Birds of Prey is of course a group of people. I suppose you’re leaving us to guess who the other team members might be…?
Yep.

TVLINE | I asked The Flash‘s Todd Helbing a similar question: Is there anything that Arrow needs to do with the remainder of its season in service of next fall’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover?
It’s possible. It’s possible….

In fact, one is coming just this week as Oliver learns the identity of that mysterious other Green Arrow, who viewers learned in the last new non-crossover episode is none other than his secret half-sister, Emiko (Sea Shimooka), the daughter of Oliver's (Stephen Amell) late father Robert and a still unknown mother. She gets her chance to shine in tonight's episode, which was only recently revealed to be titled "My Name Is Emiko Queen."

"It focuses on her and we have a cool, fun, opening montage of her kicking ass, and it's really told from her perspective," showrunner Beth Schwartz tells E! News. "We get to find out what her mission is and sort of why she's around and what happened to her family, and more about Robert kind of not doing right by her."

No one on Team Arrow knows her identity yet, but they will tonight, and you can bet Oliver's going to be surprised to find out he's got another sister.

"He is not expecting that," Schwartz says. "It is hard. We're going to see him dealing with what that actually means to him."

As Schwartz reminded us, Oliver's been through a lot this season with his months in prison and worries about his wife and son, all as a result of what she describes as a cycle that Robert created for him.

"Now to find out that he has this secret half-sister, that his father had a different family is heartbreaking to him, and he can't even confront him, you know, because he's not alive," she says. "So he deals with that, and that's a great story with him and Felicity who's there supporting him as his wife."
* * *
Schwartz says Emiko is similar to Oliver in more ways than just skill with a bow and a salmon ladder.

"She is very similar to Oliver in her sort of hot-headedness and stubbornness and also determination and even skills," she tells us. "We'll find out she's highly skilled and has been trained really well."

The reveal of Emiko and her whole deal isn't the only thing at play as we head into the back half of the season, so we got Schwartz to spill on a few other things to expect over the next few months and episodes.
* * *
Now that Oliver's out of prison and back with his family and his team, it's all about figuring out how life goes on.

"We're sort of finding our new normal in this midsection—Oliver working with the SCPD, how does the rest of Team Arrow fit into that, is there going to be a Team Arrow going forward, all of those answers we'll get to pretty fast," Schwartz says. And of course, that applies particularly to Oliver and Felicity.

The understanding the couple came to during the crossover, after Oliver had his Oliver-is-Barry-is-Oliver experience, will stick, and the pair is now here to fully support one another.

"Oliver's growth in prison and sort of accepting what Felicity for who she is and sort of understanding what she's been through, because you know, he was in his own kind of hell in prison and she was also in her own kind of hell outside of prison without him, and once that clicked for him, the two are back in a great place. They will have a lot of obstacles headed their way, but they will be together as a team to face them."

Part of that "new normal" involves Oliver now being more clearly on the side of the law by working with the SCPD, which Schwartz particularly enjoyed as a longtime writer on the show.

"It's fun as someone who's been here from the very beginning, because the whole series was based on vigilantes vs. the SCPD, so now this new partnership just had a lot of rich story to it," she says. "There's obviously going to be some conflict to how the Green Arrow would do things and how the SCPD would do things, and how is this really gonna work?"

Have no fear though: Oliver suiting up and wielding a bow and arrow will still be pretty normal, and Diaz (Kirk Acevedo) is still not totally defeated, which at this point is very normal.
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Bits and pieces of this season so far have taken place 20 years in the future, and have mostly just posed a whole bunch of questions we couldn't even begin to answer, most of which are about Felicity. Is Felicity really dead? Why would Felicity and Oliver abandon William? Why was Felicity planning to blow up the city? How many secrets is Blackstar keeping about her relationship with Felicity? We're going to get all of those answers this season.

"The second half of the season will be all about answering the questions that we've sort of posed and set up in the first half, so we'll be paralleling a lot more of the present day story to the future storyline, as well as having an all-future episode coming up," Schwartz promises. "We'll be able to open up our world that we've started and get a better sense of the characters and who they are and what sort of has really been happening, and what did we miss over the past 20 years, which is a lot."

Felicity in particular has been a cause for concern for fans, since the future scenes have promised us she turned into a villain and also died. Viewers were quick to not believe either thing for one second because they've been fooled before, but Schwartz says everything is "not so black and white."

"I think it's just interesting because we have such a long, long...again, 20 years is a long time to fill in, and I think throughout our series we've always talked about people's characters and whether you're good or bad, and this season is all about how everyone has a little bit of both inside them, whether it's our villains or heroes, and it's not so black and white. So I think that's the interesting part of dealing with our future storyline and our future characters, because a lot can change in that time."

"You're going to find out everything this season," she says.

Not only will we be getting that all-future episode, but we'll also see future Renee (Rick Gonzalez) for the first time, we'll visit the Glades, which Schwartz says is the "complete opposite" of the "depressing" Star City, and we'll learn about everything Blackstar/Maya (Katherine McNamara) is hiding.

"We're going to find out a lot more about her and how she fits into the whole group in just a few more episodes, and then in our all-flash forward episode, we're going to find out a lot. She's basically going to be featured in that episode from her point of view."

For everyone who's been worrying about how un-saved Star City still is after 20 years, Schwartz says she's "very excited" for fans to finally see what's going on.

"The fun part of reading people's reaction is that I know what the answer is, obviously, so I'm just like oh, everyone just wait, just wait. You'll know all the answers, you'll get all the answers," she says. "I'll be very excited once everyone sees what's really going on."

So Oliver is free, working for the SCPD and now we know who the new Green Arrow in town is. What are you coming back with?
Beth Schwartz: Well, we're in for a lot of more character development for Emiko, starting with episode 710. We'll be finding out more about her and what her mission's about, as well as all trying to figure out how the rest of our team fits in with Oliver back.

Are you positioning Emiko and Oliver as opponents?
They definitely will have different views on things as siblings do. [Laughs]. We'll get deeper into knowing about who her mother is, what happened with Robert Queen and why her family was kept a secret.
* * *She knows that Oliver is her brother and she knows that he's been doing this whole thing. What is their relationship like?
He's not her favorite person. And we'll see in this last half that Oliver is going to try to redeem himself to her, redeem his family, because he really feels like she was wronged. By their father.

Man, Robert really screwed this whole family up.
I know! He really did and Oliver's just trying to do the best job to pick up the pieces.

And he will be suiting back up, correct?
Oh, yeah. Yeah. You'll see him as Green Arrow, the majority of the back half of this season. And there's definitely a few villains that are lurking in the shadows. But they will make themselves more clear as the episodes go on.
* * *And what about Diaz (Kirk Acevedo)?
He's still there, he's still there being Diaz. We're going to see him in the Ghost Initiative and he will be working with Dig (David Ramsey) and Lyla (Audrey Marie Anderson) in A.R.G.U.S. and with our other Ghost Initiative characters, which is really fun.

I feel like he's the first villain that we've really gotten that's not super redeemable.
No, he's really not. He's pretty broken. [Laughs]
* * *What else can you tell us about the Ghost Initiative?
Well they're basically [showcased] in David Ramsey's episode, his directorial debut, which is next week. And it is such a great episode, the fans are going to love it. He did such an amazing job. Yeah. It's a really cool episode. We actually get in some deeper backstory with Laurel, with Black Siren and what happened to her on Earth 2. We get a little insight there and then we get to see the Ghost Initiative kicking butt with China White (Kelly Hu), Slade Wilson's son Kane Wolfson (Liam Hall), our favorite...
* * *The formulation of this new team, this new Suicide Squad, what is that going to do to Dig and Oliver?
Oliver's going to find out pretty soon about it. But Oliver and Dig are not going to have much friction, but they're definitely going to catch up in the terms of them being kind of separate this season, this far. We're going to see them come back together as a unit and be there for each other.

Oh good. I was worried that it was going to post more of a tension thing.
No, it won't. Oliver has evolved and Dig is going through his journey this season, and they come to an understanding and they have each others back. There'll be a resolution between Dig and Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards), as well, for everything that went on in the beginning of the season.

Speaking of Felicity, you've got the flash-forward mystery going on. How are we billing that out? Because let me tell you, Kat McNamara is fantastic.
She's amazing.
* * *She's so good, she's so different, she's so different from her work on Shadowhunters. It's a totally different kind of performance. It's really cool.
Oh, great. Awesome. Yeah, she's amazing. And I'm very excited to tell you and everyone that we're having an all flash-forward episode coming up. So we're going to get all the answers, all the backstory of what really has been happening these past 20 years. We go more in-depth on Blackstar, her backstory and how she got involved with everyone. And so it's a really, really fun episode.

Do we find out that Blackstar might be related to maybe some people already on the Arrow canvas?
I don't know. [Laughs] We will definitely find out who...how she became part of this group and what her connection is. We're also going to find out sort of what happened to Roy (Colton Haynes), why he was banished on Lian-Yu and what his baggage is as well.

Arrow showrunner Beth Schwartz told ComicBook.com during a recent interview that the show's writers' room were very cognizant of making its upcoming 150th episode something special for the fans, who have been with the show for seven seasons.

As with the show's hundredth episode, which took place during the "Invasion!" crossover and featured an artificial world created around Oliver that brought back several old friends and foes, "Emerald Archer" will explore the history of the show. The episode will be a faux-documentary narrated by Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer, dealing with the rise of vigilantes following the appearance of Oliver Queen as "The Hood" at the start of Arrow.

"When we knew our 150th episode was coming up, we obviously wanted to do something special," Schwartz told ComicBook.com. "I know for our 100th episode that we were all very pleased with how that turned out and it felt so nostalgic and perfect, and so we knew we kind of had to try to one-up ourselves. The room came up with the brilliant idea to film it documentary-style, and it allowed us to use all of our favorite characters from past and present in this format, which was something that was really important to us because as you're hitting such a milestone, you want to see those characters that made the series what it is."

Several seasons in, both Arrow and Supergirl seem to have changed the way they deal with their big bads -- and it is working for a lot of fans.

According to executive producers on both shows, the changes are in the hopes of getting different reactions out of the audience than they have in the past.
* * *
In its seventh season, Arrow is taking a lot of chances and making a lot of big changes to the show. Its traditional flashbacks have been replaced with flash-forwards to a bleak future, and the traditional formula of a single big bad fighting Team Arrow for the whole season has been...well, if not outright replaced then at least modified, with Ricardo Diaz now in prison and Oliver and company facing a new battery of challenges.
* * *Arrow is a bit different, since its flashbacks often had a separate-but-related villain in the past...but putting together a Suicide Squad-style team of baddies in the Ghost Initiative under the ARGUS imprimatur and the command of John Diggle and Lyla Michaels would usually be enough of a challenge to feed six episodes of story. This time around, it is one of a half-dozen challenges facing Oliver as the season winds down. Some of these stories will play to the strengths and motivations of different characters, allowing Arrow's numerous heroes to each have their own "thing" going on, without dividing them into tribes like last season.

"I've been on the show since season one, and we've done all different types of storytelling," Schwartz told ComicBook.com. "Last season, I felt like everyone was kind of on the same story, and for me, I feel like having everyone having different storylines, you can get a little bit deeper into the characters. Because we have such a large cast, it's nice to have them more one-on-one than eight people in a scene at times."